Munich, June 30, 2014 (bsh) - In 2013, BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH boosted its sales for super-efficient home appliances in Europe by 15 percent compared with the previous year, selling a total of 4.6 million appliances. That corresponds to 35 percent of the total sales. BSH has thus already achieved its goal two years sooner than planned. For the sixth successive year, BSH has brought its most energy-efficient appliances together in the Super Efficiency Portfolio. BSH has published the current overview today in its 22nd Sustainability Report.

In addition to low consumption values, environmental and climate protection also include environmentally-friendly development, resource-efficient production and eco-friendly recycling of appliances. As a manufacturer of long-lasting and resource-efficient products, BSH focuses on the entire life cycle and has set itself the goal of decoupling resource consumption from economic growth. The company's sustainable corporate strategy is based on four central areas: business partners, consumers & products, HR policy and resource excellence. Using indicators tracking financial, environmental and social performance, the latest Sustainability Report shows which goals BSH has already achieved and where Europe's leading home appliance manufacturer can become even better.

BSH demonstrated last year how seriously it takes consumer protection with the most-extensive voluntary product safety campaign in the company's history in more than 80 countries, which is still running on an indefinite basis. The reason for this is a defective component in a limited number of dishwashers produced between 1999 and 2005. It can overheat, which may lead to a possible fire risk in very rare cases. Through a broad-based publicity campaign, BSH is underscoring its claim that home appliances must satisfy high quality requirements even after many years of use.

An essential aspect of commercial success, however, is the company's employees. BSH is addressing the increasing lack of skilled workers with a variety of training programs, tailored to individual needs, and worldwide and systematic talent management. The company is thus creating an attractive working environment for new young talent. At the start of 2014, BSH received the "Top Employer in Germany" Award from the independent Top Employers Institute for the eighth time in a row. Since BSH was able to present itself as a "Top Employer" in Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Turkey, too, it also once again received the international "Top Employer Europe" Award.

The Sustainability Report 2013 is available as a PDF at http://publications.bsh-group.com/

With annual sales of around 10.5 billion euros in 2013 and more than 50,000 employees, BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH is one of the global leaders in the home appliance sector. BSH manufactures at 41 factories, operates over 80 companies and has a presence in 47 countries.

For further details, visit www.bsh-group.com.

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